


War Banners

by cytheriafalas



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-03
Updated: 2014-04-03
Packaged: 2018-01-18 00:04:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1407589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cytheriafalas/pseuds/cytheriafalas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by the House banners I found on tumblr from Autlaw (can be found on Deviantart). AU in which the attempt on Harry's life at Godric's Hollow failed and Voldemort was never defeated. Over the years, Hogwarts gradually became a training ground for the wizarding army to defeat Voldemort. This is a oneshot taking place during a Death Eater attack on Hogwarts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	War Banners

The Great Hall was gone.

Harry stood in the middle of the room. The tables were in ruins; the Slytherin table lay against the far wall, having been used as a shield by some of the Hogwarts students in the Death Eater's initial foray into the Hall. A great, jagged section lay to one side. The Hufflepuff banner had fallen from the wall and lay in a crumpled, stained heap of yellow and black across the broken-off section of the table.

They'd just come back from an exhausting battle outside the Slytherin common room, he and the twenty-or-so students he'd picked up on the way. The Great Hall was supposed to be safe. They could come here to regroup, breathe a bit, but someone had broken through the layers upon layers of enchantments. There were more spells on the Great Hall than the entrance to Hogwarts itself. Harry walked the perimeter with Dumbledore and Snape last night, double-checking and triple-checking their strength. And now there was a body underneath the Slytherin banner, looking as though they had simply been tossed aside and lay there still.

"What do we do?"

The voice was hard to hear over the roaring in his ears. It sounded like he stood beneath a waterfall. His body felt heavy, sluggish to respond. What had he done wrong? What had they missed?

He couldn't even bring himself to answer. The high table had been snapped in half by some vicious spell, a body lying right in the unnaturally clean break. Harry looked away. There would be time to mourn later.

"Harry?" It was a different voice this time. "People are asking... You're in command, now."

Harry finally lifted his head to see who was talking. Ron and Hermione stood between him and the gathered students. The knots of rank on Hermione's shoulder had been ripped away. Ron's were bloodied--white cloth stained pinkish red.

"What's happened to Cedric?" Harry asked. His voice was steady, just the way it should be. Just the way his parents and uncles and aunt had trained him. The way a commander's voice should sound.

"Dead," Hermione answered. Her voice was calm and clear, but her hand never strayed far from her wand. "Cursed in the back while he was dueling someone else."

"Who was it?"

"Pettigrew."

Harry grimaced. He had never met Pettigrew personally, but whenever they'd needed to talk about him at home, the entirety of Grimmauld Place seemed to grow silent, punctured only by their whispers and the portrait in the hallway screeching. The only time Harry ever truly heard his mother livid was when they talked about Peter Pettigrew.

"Where are the professors?"

"Leading the Death Eaters away, most of them," Neville said. He'd taken to this life-or-death dueling with far more skill than his daily coursework; his robes were nearly pristine and if not for the torn, smoking hem and his mussed hair, Harry might have thought the third of his lieutenants had avoided the fight all together.

"Then we'll go join them. Form up! Five of you, stay behind and hold the Hall no matter what happens."

By some miracle, each of the exhausted, drained students did as he said. Five students, a Slytherin, two Hufflepuffs, and two Ravenclaws separated themselves from the rest. The Hufflepuffs were the first to move. Ernie Macmillian took his place at the front. Gryffindor was only a step behind, then Ravenclaw, and finally the fewest of them all, the Slytherin house.

The head of each group somehow procured the war banner of their house. Harry had seen pictures of the previous house crests. Those animals had rarely moved, enchanted only for Quidditch games or inter-house competitions. The war banners were different.

Hufflepuff's badger emerged through a yellow-and-black whirlpool. It snarled, claws extended, swiping at something only it could see. The Gryffindor lion stood among flames, teeth bared in a roar Harry thought he should be able to hear. The eagle for the Ravenclaw house was in mid-strike, talons extended, beak open in a silent scream. As fond as Harry was of the Gryffindor lion, he had to admit the Slytherins had the most impressive crest. The background was made up of the green, jeweled skin of a snake, sometimes roiling with movement and sometimes so still it almost could have been a Muggle painting, with only the cobra-like head moving, striking forward, tongue flicking in the air.

War had changed the houses. The Hufflepuffs were still known for their kindness, their tolerance, their loyalty. But their loyalty went first to Hogwarts, then to their house, and finally to their blood families. As such Head Boy and Girl almost always came from Hufflepuff. They headed Dumbledore's Army, and they did as Dumbledore ordered. Harry wondered what the Hufflepuffs thought of him taking that position now that Cedric was dead, although he had been to take it at the end of next year, once Cedric graduated.

Gryffindor made up the bulk of the army. The token bravery and daring of the house had translated into some of the most powerful duelists in Hogwarts. Nearly all of the sub-units were headed by a Gryffindor. Even the chain of command within the house echoed that of Hogwarts' Army overall. The head student was the Commander, answerable only to the Head Boy and Head Girl. Harry had been Gryffindor's commander since the start of the school year. Hermione, Ron, and Neville made up the second tier of command, each with three students from the third tier answering directly to them.

Although Gryffindor was widely known both within the school and without for their skills, Harry personally thought he'd rather face a Gryffindor on the battlefield than a Ravenclaw. A Gryffindor would be dangerous, but predictable. A Ravenclaw was just as dangerous but nowhere near as predictable. The Ravenclaw House dedicated themselves to the creation of new spells, but there were a number that were only known to the seventh-years in the house, and only ever cast nonverbally. An entire wing of the school had been granted to them to practice and create these spells.   
It seemed obvious, at first glance, why the Slytherin house's numbers dwindled so rapidly after fifth year. It was not unusual to find someone pulled on the day of their seventeenth birthday. Very few knew that some of those students had chosen to become double agents, training in secret for months before they joined the Death Eaters. The resourcefulness and cunning of Slytherin served them well. The House had become insular, obviously distrusted by other Houses. Their double agents had become a secret source of pride for the wounded house.

Harry was just about to head out when one of the side doors to the Great Hall slammed open, startling the assembled students into reaching for their wands. Andrew Kirke slid to a halt, presenting Harry with a shaky salute, arms crossed at the wrist above his chest.

"Professors McGonagall and Flitwick are pinned down by the transfiguration classrooms. Seven, maybe more, Death Eaters. Peeves is trying to help, but both the Carrows and Dolohov are there. Professor Sinistra is up on the Astronomy Tower, trying to catch the Death Eaters on the grounds."

"Those of you who have experience sniping, go to Professor Sinistra. Everyone else, with me. We're going to help McGonagall."   
As he spoke, Andrew sank down to the ground, resting his forehead on his knees. Harry let him be. Roughly a third of his students peeled off toward the Astronomy Tower, Hermione at their head. The rest of them headed toward the Great Hall's main doors. One of the doors was lying in pieces on the floor, the other hanging crookedly in the frame.

Two Slytherins slipped past Harry, casting Disillusionment Charms as they scouted ahead. The hallways were silent, quieter than Harry ever remembered them being. It was an unsettling feeling. The Death Eaters had made attempts to get into Hogwarts, but they'd never managed to breach the castle itself before, and certainly not the Great Hall itself.

They began to find evidence of McGonagall and Flitwick's battle as they moved further into the castle. An impressive number of Death Eaters lay on the floor. Most of them looked as though they wouldn't be moving any time soon, and some as though they wouldn't ever move again. A few stirred as Harry and the students ran past, but were quickly and efficiently dispatched with powerful Stunning Spells.   
Peeves popped out of the ground in front of Harry, his hat askew. "Potter. Here to help?

"How are things in there, Peeves?"

"Pretty messy," the poltergeist answered. "Your scouts are just about to the fight. If you could sink through the floor--" Peeves dipped his crossed legs beneath the floor, "--you could drop right on the Death Eater's heads."

"Can you distract them?"

Peeves grinned as though Harry had promised him all the water balloons and bubblegum he could ever want. "Can I distract them? Am I a common house ghost?"

"Give us a couple minutes. I want to send half my people around to the other side of the hallway."

Peeves saluted and slipped back through the ceiling.

"Ron, take the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws down to the left. The rest of us will go to the right. Wait until you hear my order."

Harry watched half his force turn and head back down the hallway on near-silent feet. The last thing they needed was for the Death Eaters to hear them coming from above. Hopefully they wouldn't realize word had gotten out about their fight. 

They had just turned the corner at the top of the staircase when a huge black dog bounded toward them from a connecting hallway. A few of the students pulled their wands, but Harry gestured sharply for them to stand down.

"Uncle Sirius!"

Mid-leap, the dog transformed into his godfather, whom he had always called uncle. "Sorry it took us so long, Harry," Sirius said, reaching into his robes for his wand. "Tonks is on the other side. Your mum and dad have most of the rest of the Order doing cleanup on the grounds."

"I didn't know word got out to you," Harry said. "How did you--"

A small, whispery voice issued from Harry's Gryffindor badge. "We're ready, Commander."

"Okay," Harry whispered. He waited until he got nods from the five students behind him. "On my count. Don't forget we'll have people coming from each side. Three. Two. One."

On "one" he heard the Death Eaters shrieking in frustration. Peeves, it seemed, had been true to his word. He was troublesome when he wanted to be, but Hogwarts was as much his home as theirs.

As the students rounded the corner, the shrieks turned from minor frustration to genuine surprise. Nine Death Eaters crowded around a barricaded door; Harry could see it glowing with powerful protection spells. They turned, scattering under the barrage of spells.

The Death Eaters recovered faster than Harry expected. He barely had time to cast one of Ravenclaws' newest hexes. It was a two-part spell, the first covering all exposed skin in an oily, burning film, but Harry had to cast a Shield Charm to protect himself before he could finish the second part.

" _Aguamenti_!"

A jet of water slammed into the Death Eater who had been struggling to wipe the oil from his skin. He'd looked merely uncomfortable before, but as the water activated the second half of the spell, he fell to the ground, screaming and writhing. The gush of water took another Death Eater's feet out from under her, toppling her onto the first man and spreading the oil to her skin.

Luna smiled at Harry in her absent way and immediately cast another one of Ravenclaws' spells, felling another Death Eater. Harry didn't know this one. It sent a jet of sickly purple light that spread like water as soon as it hit the target. The Death Eater fell clutching her throat.

In the few moments since the start of the fight, they'd taken down four Death Eaters, but five still fought back and their surprise was fading. Either Andrew had miscounted or more Death Eaters had joined the fray in the interval between his count and their arrival. Harry suspected McGonagall had joined the exalted ranks of Voldemort's highest priorities.

It wasn't too hard to see why. As the glowing shields dropped from the door, a half-transfigured Death Eater flew backwards, unconscious before he hit the ground. Jets of light from spells Harry was only familiar with in theory came from the darkened room.

"Harry!"

Harry spun toward Ron's voice a second too late. A dark, furry shape shoved him down as Sirius in his animagus form leapt above the curse and fastened his jaws on the Death Eater responsible. Even with a dog hanging from the wizard's arm, the spell still caught Harry in the right arm, sending needle-stinging pains up through his shoulder. He managed to bite back a cry of pain only barely.

His wand clattered to the ground. A Slytherin scooped it up and shoved it into Harry's left hand. 

"Keep hold of that, Potter," Blaise said. He ducked a curse and wove back into the fray of flashing spells.

"You okay, Harry?" Sirius asked, reappearing at his side. He grimaced, wiping at his lips. "Death Eater blood. I probably caught something."

"I'm fine," Harry said, trying to count Death Eaters over Sirius's shoulder. Four were still standing. "I just can't use my right arm."

"Best stay out of it then," Sirius said. "I've seen you try to use the wand with your left hand and it's not pretty. They've almost got everything under control anyway."

As he spoke, McGonagall and Flitwick finally made their way from the classroom in a blast of desks. It took only a few seconds for the remaining Death Eaters to either flee or be incapacitated. 

"Anyone who's been injured, the Order has set up a triage tent outside the Great Hall," Tonks called from the other end of the hallway. Her hair was a deep red, almost the color of blood. Harry had never seen his aunt's hair that color before. "Everyone else, return to your staging areas."

"The Great Hall," Harry said, loud enough for Tonks to hear. His voice sounded ragged and he could hear Sirius's muffled groan behind him. She waved at him in thanks.

"To the Great Hall, then!"

"Come on. Your mum's going to kill me," Sirius mumbled, putting an arm around Harry's shoulder. He withdrew when Harry flinched away; the added weight of his touch flaring the pain again.

McGonagall and Flitwick immobilized and levitated the remaining Death Eaters. They would be kept in the dungeons until Order members could take them in for questioning and more secure holding. The rest of the students, plus Sirius and Tonks, headed toward the Great Hall. Only a few had been injured, and just one had to be levitated. 

A lime green tent had been set up just outside the Great Hall. Long and narrow, it took up a significant length of the hallway. Standing just inside the tent, Harry thought he could see a flurry of red hair which could only be--

"Sirius Black, what did you do to my son?"

"I'm _fine_ , mum," Harry said, finding himself swept through the tent flaps and into her care.

"Are you hurt?" Lily asked, rounding on Sirius.

His uncle held up his hands, backing slowly away. "Nope. I'll just--"

"James is helping to organize the students in the Great Hall, not that they actually need it. Go help him. I will deal with you once I'm through here."

Sirius dashed back out of the tent with perhaps more alacrity than Harry would have expected. Then again, turning to face his mother, he found himself wishing he'd been sent to help James in the Great Hall.

"Mum, really, I'm fine. It's just some sort of stinging spell."

"Sit."

Lily waved her wand and a chair slid across the floor, screeching to a halt behind Harry. He dropped down into it. Lily waved her wand over him. After a few seconds, she put her hands on her hips and looked him over. 

"Well, you'll live." Her face softened, looking at him with the same eyes he saw in the mirror every morning. "You look exhausted, Harry."

"It's been a long day," Harry admitted. "Our spies got news through just a few hours before the attack happened. I've been up most of the night working on the defenses."

Lily leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Hogwarts hasn't been this well defended since we was in school. The kids are well-trained. Eleven students had to be flooed off to St. Mungo's, but the majority of the kids I've seen here today needed a basic counter-curse, which usually had already been performed by other students in the field, or a potion which Severus--don't make that face!--had already made. I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks, Mum."

"Now, I would recommend you stay here and rest, but you're enough like your father that I'm willing to bet you'd sneak off as soon as my back was turned."

Harry put on what he hoped was his best 'who me?' face. Lily, clearly, was not fooled.

"Go ahead and find James; he'll put you to work. And send Sirius in here. I'm going to have words with him."

"He did risk his life to save me," Harry protested. "If he hadn't, I would have been in a lot more trouble."

"I know he did. Sirius is a good man. But if he doesn't maintain a healthy fear of me, who knows what sort of trouble he'll get into."

Harry hopped off the stool and hugged his mother. "All right, I'll send him in."

He found James and Sirius just inside the Great Hall, supervising the raising of the House banners. They had already finished three and Luna was in the process of levitating the final one. Blaise stood beside her, wand raised.

" _Scourgify_." The banner flapped as though struck with a sudden gust of wind and when it stilled, the fabric was clean and bright.   
Satisfied, James cast the spell to hold the flag in place.

"Good," Sirius said as both Luna and Blaise lowered their wands. "The Slytherin table is the last one that needs repairing and then you can both take a break. The House Elves will take care of most of the cleaning."

Luna waved at Harry before she and Blaise headed toward the final table. The other three had already been fixed and were filled with students. Some had even climbed onto the tables and were laying with their eyes closed. 

"Hi, Dad," Harry said when James turned.

"Your mum let you free already?"

Harry lifted his right arm and flexed his fingers. "Almost as good as new. It kind of feels like I fell asleep on it. Mum does want to see you, though, Sirius."

Sirius blanched, facing turning roughly three shades whiter, and slunk toward the doors.

"He looks like a kicked dog," James remarked.

Harry laughed. "Where's Remus?" he asked, looking around for the last of his adoptive family members.

"Full moon tonight," James said, lowering his voice. Remus's condition was well-known throughout the Order, but not many others knew. "We didn't know how long the battle would take and he didn't want to take any risks."

"Oh," Harry said. "I forgot what day it was." He should have remembered. Their lives at Number 12 revolved around the lunar calendar, and always had for as long as he could remember.

James slung his arm over Harry's shoulders. "You did good today, son. Go sit with your friends. Breathe a little bit. The Order can take care of the rest. Dumbledore and some of the other professors are walking the perimeter to find out where the defenses failed. They'll have to find some other place to get in next time."

"Thanks, Dad."

James gave Harry a gentle shove toward one of the tables. Harry collapsed into a seat between Luna and Ron and put his head down in his arms. He could almost _feel_ Luna smiling at him.

"I like your dad," she remarked. "Do you think he'd be interested in writing something for _The Quibbler_?"

"Not now, Luna," Ron's muffled voice said.

Harry drifted off to sleep before he could even begin to understand what Hermione said from across the table.


End file.
